Music Cloudhttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/music-cloud
en-usFri, 09 Dec 2016 08:32:13 -0500Fri, 09 Dec 2016 08:32:13 -0500The latest news on Music Cloud from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/google-set-to-launch-youtube-music-key-2014-8Leaked: Details Of Google's Attempt To Get You To Pay For YouTube http://www.businessinsider.com/google-set-to-launch-youtube-music-key-2014-8
Tue, 19 Aug 2014 06:20:00 -0400James Cook
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/53f325b8ecad046b1ff3ec19-532-399/katy-perry-19.jpg" border="0" alt="Katy Perry">After months of rumors, we're finally getting a look at YouTube's new subscription-based music service.&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/08/18/exclusive-this-is-youtube-music-key-googles-upcoming-subscription-service-with-offline-support-background-audio-no-ads-free-play-music-key/"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Leaked screenshots published by</span> Android Police</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> claim to detail the features of the new service, reportedly named "YouTube Music Key."</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The new service was first spotted when Google began </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><a href="http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2014/07/29/introducing-youtube-music-key">purchasing domain names</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> related to the phrase "music key," as "youtubemusickey.com," "musickey.co.uk," and "musickey.jp" are now owned by Google. But in a series of leaked screenshots, Android Police claims to have detailed the features of the new service.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p class="center"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Key features of this new "premium" version of YouTube are said to include offline playback of videos, concert footage, exclusive remixes, and an absence of ads. Although the price has not been announced, it is believed to cost $9.99 per month.</span></p>
<p class="center"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Subscribers to the new YouTube Music Key service will also be given a free subscription to Google's other music streaming service: Google Play Music All Access. Confusingly, it is also said that Google intends to rename that service "Google Play Music Key."</span></p>
<p class="center"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53f313a969bedde67940afc4-400-667/nexus2cee_wm_screenshot_2014-08-18-12-33-55.jpg" border="0" alt="Leaked screenshot of YouTube Music Key">It has also been said that some musicians will see their videos blocked on YouTube after failing to agree with Google over joining the new service. On June 4, indie label music body WIN held a <a href="http://musically.com/2014/06/04/indies-v-youtube-win-billy-bragg-and-impala-go-on-the-warpath/">news conference</a> in London to complain that Google was "threatening" and "bullying" music labels into signing up for the service.</p>
<p class="center"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Despite a <a href="http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/5763268/youtube-close-to-launching-subscription-music-service">2013 Billboard report</a> claiming that YouTube's music service would launch by the end of the year, Google has yet to officially announce the arrival of YouTube Music Key. Two high-profile departures have also been linked to the delay: Director in charge of music and paid subscriptions Nikhil Chandhok left his position in 2013, while his successor, Chris LaRosa, exited YouTube last month. <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/07/22/top-youtube-music-executive-quits-a-setback-to-paid-service/">The Wall Street Journal</a>&nbsp;reports that both men left YouTube over frustrations with the delay in launching the new service.</span></p>
<p class="center"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">YouTube's music streaming service will face competition from Apple and Amazon, with both offering existing subscription plans. Apple's May 2014 acquisition of Beats means that it currently runs two separate music streaming service: iTunes Radio and Beats Music.</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-blocking-musicians-that-wont-sign-up-for-its-new-service-2014-6" >YouTube Says It Will Block Musicians Who Don't Sign Up For Its New Paid Service</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-set-to-launch-youtube-music-key-2014-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/yahoo-and-spotify-hook-up-so-you-can-listen-to-music-while-surfing-yahoo-2012-6Yahoo And Spotify Hook Up So You Can Listen To Music While Surfing Yahoo (YHOO)http://www.businessinsider.com/yahoo-and-spotify-hook-up-so-you-can-listen-to-music-while-surfing-yahoo-2012-6
Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:26:33 -0400Julie Bort
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/4f993a426bb3f78246000000-400-300/spotify-deck.png" border="0" alt="spotify deck" width="400" height="300" /></p><p><a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/spotify">Spotify</a> and <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/yahoo">Yahoo</a> are joining forces to try and spread some musical love.</p>
<p><span>Spotify will become a streaming service on Yahoo at first just on the Yahoo's music site but eventually across all of Yahoo! <br /></span></p>
<p><span>Meanwhile Yahoo will build an app for Spotify integration on Yahoo! entertainment sites will feature Spotify&rsquo;s innovative play button, enabling Yahoo! users to enjoy music while remaining on Yahoo!.</span></p>
<p>Here's the full press release:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;" align="center"><strong><span>YAHOO! AND SPOTIFY ANNOUNCE </span></strong></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;" align="center"><strong><span>GLOBAL CONTENT DISTRIBUTION AND PROMOTION DEAL</span></strong><span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;" align="center"><span>&nbsp;</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;" align="center"><strong><span>Yahoo! To Integrate Spotify&rsquo;s On Demand Music Service Across Global Media Properties</span></strong><span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;" align="center"><span>&nbsp;</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><strong><span style="font-family: Calibri;">SUNNYVALE, <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/ca">CA</a> and NEW YORK, NY &mdash; June 26, 2012 &mdash;</span></strong><span> Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), the premier digital media company, and Spotify today announced a global content distribution and promotion agreement that will enable Yahoo! to integrate and promote Spotify&rsquo;s on demand music service on Yahoo!&rsquo;s Media Network, which reaches nearly 700 million unique users monthly &ndash; over 47 percent of the total worldwide Internet audience (<a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/comscore">comScore</a> World Metrix, May 2012).&nbsp; Spotify will initially roll out to Yahoo! Music and later will be contextually integrated globally across the rest of Yahoo!, including its leading entertainment sites, like Yahoo! Movies and omg!.&nbsp; In turn, Yahoo! will create an app for Spotify&rsquo;s platform featuring Yahoo! original entertainment content, which will reach Spotify&rsquo;s more than 10 million active users.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span>&nbsp;</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span>&ldquo;At Spotify we want to light up the Web with music and as Yahoo!&rsquo;s global music partner we&rsquo;re able to reach their massive audience&rdquo; said <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/daniel-ek">Daniel Ek</a>, CEO &amp; Founder, Spotify.&nbsp; &ldquo;We are really excited about the new Yahoo! leadership team and thrilled to partner with them to build great experiences around high quality content.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span>&nbsp;</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><span>"Delivering compelling premium experiences across screens is core to our mission at Yahoo!. </span><span>Spotify is the leader in the digital music field and together we can provide the &ldquo;soundtrack&rdquo; for users <span>around the world," said <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/ross-levinsohn">Ross Levinsohn</a>, Interim CEO, Yahoo!. &ldquo;What Daniel and his team are doing is changing an industry, and we&rsquo;re thrilled to be partnering with them</span><span style="color: #1f497d;">.&rdquo;</span><span></span></span></p>
<p><span>This relationship is designed to drive deeper user engagement for both companies.&nbsp; For Yahoo!, the Spotify integration on Yahoo! entertainment sites will feature Spotify&rsquo;s innovative play button, enabling Yahoo! users to enjoy music while remaining on Yahoo!.&nbsp; Likewise, the Yahoo! app, due out later this year, will further engage Spotify&rsquo;s more than 10 million active users with premium original content from artist profiles to musical programs.</span></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/yahoo-and-spotify-hook-up-so-you-can-listen-to-music-while-surfing-yahoo-2012-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/soundcloud-just-raised-50-million-and-mary-meeker-is-on-board-2012-1SoundCloud Just Raised A Monster $50 Million Round And Mary Meeker Is On Boardhttp://www.businessinsider.com/soundcloud-just-raised-50-million-and-mary-meeker-is-on-board-2012-1
Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:47:00 -0500Matt Lynley
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/4ef0d8dbecad04f43700001b-400-300/soundcloud.png" border="0" alt="soundcloud" width="400" height="300" /></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/mary-meeker" class="hidden_link">Mary Meeker</a> of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/kleiner-perkins" class="hidden_link">Kleiner Perkins</a> Caufield &amp; Byers is joining SoundCloud's board of advisors after her firm led a monster $50 million round in the music sharing service, <a href="http://eu.techcrunch.com/2012/01/02/soundcloud-raises-50-million-round-led-by-kleiner-perkins/">TechCrunch reports</a>.</p>
<p>The round values SoundCloud at $200 million, with GGV capital also participating in the round, according to the site.</p>
<p>SoundCloud is basically the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/youtube" class="hidden_link">YouTube</a> for sound and music. You record sounds &mdash; music, speech or anything like that &mdash; and upload it to SoundCloud. It then crunches the sound and gives it a visual waveform component and lets you share it with your friends.</p>
<p>You can add a comment that will show up at a specific time in the sound file, making it useful for collaborative sound production.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/soundcloud-just-raised-50-million-and-mary-meeker-is-on-board-2012-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/best-spotify-apps-2011-1110 Apps That Prove Spotify's New 'Platform' Is Killerhttp://www.businessinsider.com/best-spotify-apps-2011-11
Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:01:00 -0500Ellis Hamburger
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/4ed67b44ecad048a31000030/spotify-apps-guardian-400.jpg" border="0" alt="spotify apps guardian 400" /></p><p>At its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-announcement-2011-11">big press event today</a> in New York City, <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/spotify">Spotify</a> announced a range of third party apps from Rolling Stone to Tunewiki.</p>
<p>These <a href="http://www.spotify.com/us/download/previews/">third party apps</a> will supplement Spotify's desktop application, and will at some point come to mobile as well.</p>
<p>They'll make Spotify a place where you can turn for song lyrics, concert dates, customized mood playlists, and much more.</p>
<p>Essentially, Spotify let developers build a bunch of apps so they don't have to add crazy new features themselves&mdash;which is OK with us.</p>
<p>It's essentially the "Facebook approach to apps," which has worked out pretty well for <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/facebook">Facebook</a>.</p>
<p>Here are our favorite new apps we saw today, which should be launching sometime soon inside a new App Catalog inside Spotify.</p><h3>The Rolling Stone app got the most attention at the Spotify event.</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/4ed6696fecad04021c000006-400-300/the-rolling-stone-app-got-the-most-attention-at-the-spotify-event.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>Check out Rolling Stone playlists, recommendations, and editor picks.</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/4ed67a446bb3f73e42000009-400-300/check-out-rolling-stone-playlists-recommendations-and-editor-picks.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>Record reviews are also present in the app, but nothing below three stars is making the cut, a Rolling Stone representative told us.</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/4ed67a52eab8ea1f20000006-400-300/record-reviews-are-also-present-in-the-app-but-nothing-below-three-stars-is-making-the-cut-a-rolling-stone-representative-told-us.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-spotify-apps-2011-11#songkick-brings-you-concert-dates-for-musicians-in-your-library-and-even-setlists-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-announcement-2011-11Spotify Announces Huge Third Party App Ecosystem For Rolling Stone Reviews, Lyrics, Concerts, And Morehttp://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-announcement-2011-11
Wed, 30 Nov 2011 11:48:00 -0500Ellis Hamburger
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/4ed66d4eecad04f01b000025/daniel-ek-spotify-screen.jpg" border="0" alt="daniel ek spotify screen" /></p><p>We're live from Spotify's big global press conference in New York City.</p>
<p>The show is set to begin at 12:00 p.m. EST.</p>
<p>We'll have constant updates as they come, as well as pictures straight from the floor.</p>
<p>Will <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/spotify" class="hidden_link">Spotify</a> announce a new app or API, or will we finally get a Spotify music store?</p>
<p>Refresh your page for more.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-announcement-2011-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-google-investor-nov-17-2011-11THE GOOGLE INVESTOR: Google Wallet Heats Up In Time For The Holidays (GOOG)http://www.businessinsider.com/the-google-investor-nov-17-2011-11
Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:03:35 -0500Heather Leonard
<p><em><strong>The <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/google">Google</a> Investor</strong> is a daily report from SAI. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-investor-newsletter-2010-2">Sign up here to receive it by email</a></em></p>
<hr />
<p><strong><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/4e09cf8ecadcbb2762000000/no-wallet.jpg" border="0" alt="no wallet" /><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/google">GOOG</a> Off With Markets </strong><br />Markets are edging lower as spiking bond yields in Spain and other European worries offset unemployment benefits falling to their lowest level in 7 months. Shares of GOOG are off as well. Catalysts include continued <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/android" target="_blank">Android</a> momentum in the smartphone and tablet markets worldwide; <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/motorola" class="hidden_link">Motorola</a> acquisition approval and integration; regaining ground in China; any signs of life for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/google-tv">Google TV</a> (including <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/motorola" class="hidden_link">Motorola</a>); the roll-out of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/google-music">Google Music</a>, social network Google+ and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/google-wallet" class="hidden_link">Google Wallet (see below)</a>; and progress in other newer initiatives (location-based services, mapping, gaming, daily deals, etc.). The stock trades at approximately <a href="https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en&amp;key=0Ak6JroN3wjs9dDAxck1VQXdsejNsNWdWTXJ5Ymc5blE&amp;hl=en&amp;gid=4">12.4x Enterprise Value / EBIT</a>.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wow-google-activated-100-million-android-devices-in-six-months-2011-11">Google Activating 550K Phones Per Day</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/android-activations-2011-11">Same As What They Reported In July</a> (<a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/business-insider">Business Insider</a>)</strong><br />Google has activated more than 200 million Android-powered devices and it activated 100 million Android-powered devices just six months ago in May. That's a half a million devices per day which is in-line with what the company announced on their earnings call in July. While impressive, should investors worry that growth is stalling? Are <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/android">Android</a> activations flat lining? Or is Google just sandbagging its results?</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9221930/Going_social_could_be_game_changer_for_Google_Music">Google Launches Music Service, Social Could Be the Key</a> (ComputerWorld)</strong><br />After months of speculation and anticipation, Google's online music store is live. The service includes deals with three major music companies and allows users to buy music, and upload and store up to 20,000 songs for free. What could give <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/google-music">Google Music</a> a big boost is the fact that Google immediately integrated the service with its fledgling social networking, Google+. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/googles-new-music-store-favors-artists-over-labels-2011-11">Google will allow any artist to create an artist page and upload and sell music through the store</a>. That's a huge switch from how <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/itunes">iTunes</a> and other stores do it.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.gapinc.com/content/gapinc/html/blog/2011/11/gap_inc_introduces.html">Google Wallet Partners With The Gap In Time For The Holidays</a> (<a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/gap">Gap</a> Inc.)</strong><br />Gap Inc. (Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic) is the latest retailer to add Google Wallet to its stores, allowing shoppers to pay for purchases with a tap of their phones in 65 locations in the Bay Area. Additionally, through the end of February the company will offer 15% off when shoppers use Google Wallet at those stores. While Google Wallet is still in its infancy, securing a major partner in the retail world could give the mobile payments platform a boost in the consumer market.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/243895/tablet_shipments_to_hit_55m_this_year_continue_explosive_growth.html">The Tablet Market Continues To Explode Tripling In Size This Year Alone</a> (PC World)</strong><br />Juniper Research released a report <em>Tablets, Viva La Evolution!</em> which estimated that tablet shipments will increase from 17.6 million tablets in 2010 to 55.2 million this year (this is shipments, not units sold). The company predicts that the tablet market will explode over the next five years, with shipments reaching 253 million units in 2016. That's more than 4x what they are today. Additionally, 67 million e-reader devices will be sold in 2016, as compared to 25 million this calendar year.<br /><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-google-investor-nov-17-2011-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/googles-new-music-store-favors-artists-over-labels-2011-11Google's New Music Store Favors Artists And Users, Not The Record Industry (GOOG)http://www.businessinsider.com/googles-new-music-store-favors-artists-over-labels-2011-11
Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:50:00 -0500Matt Rosoff
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4ec43c0669bedd6709000003/google-music-event.jpg" border="0" alt="Google Music event" /></p><p>Google just took the wraps off its new music store, which the company has been hinting at for more than 18 months now.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-music-new-market-walkthrough-2011-11"><strong>Check out our walkthrough here&rarr;</strong></a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-music-new-market-walkthrough-2011-11"><strong></strong></a>It's a pretty traditional download store on the lines of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/itunes" class="hidden_link">iTunes</a> (which has been around for eight years now) and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/amazon" class="hidden_link">Amazon</a> MP3, but with a few interesting twists, like free music sharing via Google+.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-music-new-market-walkthrough-2011-11"><strong></strong></a>The biggest difference, though, is that Google will allow any artist to create an artist page and upload and sell music through the store. That's a huge switch from how iTunes and other stores do it.</p>
<p>This could create some logistical nightmares for Google: it will have to deal with customer support issues from potentially millions of musicians, including things like copyright (say a band uploads an unauthorized cover version or a recording that they didn't even make) and fraud (where scammers use stolen credit cards to "buy" millions of copies of a song they uploaded themselves).</p>
<p>But on the whole, it's a pretty bold move in favor of independent artists.</p>
<p>Here are the details:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Songs will be available through the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/android" class="hidden_link">Android</a> Market. </strong>The entire service will also be on the Web at <a href="https://music.google.com/music/listen?u=0#start_pl">music.google.com</a><strong>.</strong><strong></strong></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>Users can share songs via Google+. </strong>As we <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-music-will-let-users-share-songs-after-purchase-2011-10">previously reported</a>, any purchased song can be shared with an unlimited number of connections via Google+. All shared songs can be played at least once for free, and indie artists can also grant additional free plays. (Note: sharing doesn't work with songs uploaded from your personal collection.)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>All purchases are stored in the cloud</strong>. All songs are stored in the Google Music database, where users can also upload up to 20,000 tracks from their own collection. (This feature has been available since May as part of the Google Music beta.) Then, users can stream these purchases to up to 10 devices.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>Redownloading is now supported</strong>. Before, once songs were up in the cloud, users could only stream them to devices. Now, they can redownload them -- nice in case of hard drive crashes, for instance.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>Warner is not included. </strong>EMI, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/sony" class="hidden_link">Sony</a>, and Universal -- three of the big four labels -- are included. There are also a lot of indies including Merlin (an aggregator representing thousands of labels around the world) and Beggars' Banquet. The store will have 13 million tracks at launch.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>Self-released artists can upload their own music. </strong>Artists can pay a $25 one-time fee to submit their music to the store through the Artist Hub. There, they can create an artist page, upload content to sell, and set pricing. Google takes a 30% cut of each sale, just like iTunes, but there's no recurring fee.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/t-mobile" class="hidden_link">T-Mobile</a> customers can pay for songs on their phone bills. </strong>This kind of carrier billing makes perfect sense for a SUBSCRIPTION service, but is kind of a strange feature here. But it will let customers with no credit cards buy music. That's great for T-Mobile and Google, not so good for the parents of teenagers who are still on their cell phone plans.</li>
</ul>
<p>There are also going to be some exclusives at launch, including live concerts from the Rolling Stones and new tracks from Coldplay.</p>
<p>The updated service is available on the Web now, and will be coming to Android devices in coming days.</p>
<p><strong>Update: </strong>Here's <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/google-music-is-open-for-business.html">Google's official blog post announcing the service</a>, and a video in which a bunch of indie artists explain why it's so hard to make a living in rock and roll and how Google Music will help:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><iframe width="620" height="345" frameborder="0" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3lv1xras-zM"></iframe></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/googles-new-music-store-favors-artists-over-labels-2011-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/itunes-match-review-2011-11Apple's Latest Product Is Not A Game Changer (AAPL, GOOG)http://www.businessinsider.com/itunes-match-review-2011-11
Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:21:00 -0500Jay Yarow
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4ded3690cadcbb0579080000/eddy-cue.jpg" border="0" alt="eddy cue" /></p><p>After a slight delay, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/apple" class="hidden_link">Apple</a> <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/itunes-match-2011-11">took the wraps off its cloud-based music service, iTunes Match</a>, last night.</p>
<p>After a few problems, I have the product working (mostly) as advertised. Overall, I think it's good, but I don't think it's going to appeal to the majority of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/itunes" class="hidden_link">iTunes</a> users, and it won't slow the ascent of products like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/spotify" class="hidden_link">Spotify</a> and MOG.</p>
<p>Unlike rivals, iTunes Match doesn't offer unlimited music for a monthly fee, or streaming of your songs for free. Instead, it takes the music you've already gathered through the years -- legally, or illegally -- and it stores it remotely on Apple's servers. The songs then appear in the music app on your <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/iphone" class="hidden_link">iPhone</a>, or <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/ipad" class="hidden_link">iPad</a>. You download the tunes to your gadget to hear them. You can listen to the song as it downloads, because it's a progressive download.</p>
<p>Apple is charging $25 per year for iTunes Match. At $2 per month, I think it's worth it, but I have 10,000 songs and I wanted access to all of those songs at all times. If you're happy just loading up your iPhone with a handful of songs at a time from iTunes, then skip iTunes Match.</p>
<p>Before diving in further, I should note that iTunes Match had a bumpy launch last night. iTunes was freezing on me repeatedly as I tried to use it. I had iTunes Match running for 12 hours and it still hadn't scanned and matched my entire music collection.</p>
<p>I'm not alone. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/peter-kafka" class="hidden_link">Peter Kafka</a> at All <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/things" class="hidden_link">Things</a> D <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20111115/apples-itunes-match-pitch-pay-up-stick-around/">said</a>, "I spent several hours futzing with the service last night, and found it balky. But I&rsquo;m guessing that, just like its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/icloud" class="hidden_link">iCloud</a> launch last month, Apple will work out many of the kinks over the next couple days."</p>
<p>Putting that aside, I had 70% of my music uploaded to Apple's cloud service, so I have a pretty good feel for how it works.</p>
<p>While I'm happy with iTunes Match overall, I see two big problems, and one small one: It is backwards looking, it locks you into Apple, and sharing through iTunes is still terrible.</p>
<p>Streaming services like MOG and Spotify deliver all the newest music for $10 a month on your mobile phone. For $2 a month with iTunes Match you're only hearing the old music you've enjoyed. If you're interested in hearing the latest music, then you're better off with MOG or Spotify.</p>
<p>Those same streaming services work across a number of gadgets/platforms: iPhones, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/android" class="hidden_link">Android</a> phones, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/windows" class="hidden_link">Windows</a> Phones, Android tablets, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/facebook" class="hidden_link">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/kindle" class="hidden_link">Kindle</a>, and the web.</p>
<p>iTunes Match only works on Apple devices, and iTunes. Well, iTunes with a hitch. I've used iTunes on more than 5 computers, and Apple told me to deauthorize one of those computers. I have no idea how I'm going to do that since I've ditched two old Macs.</p>
<p>Anyway, if you're happy being locked into Apple's world, then this is no big deal. And if you buy less than 10 albums a year, then you probably don't need MOG or Spotify.</p>
<p>I wish Apple had made <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/ping" class="hidden_link">Ping</a> a better service. I still can't tweet or share songs I'm listening to on Facebook through Apple. At least not easily. Music can be, and should be, social.</p>
<p>That small quibble aside, I like the look and feel of the Music app on my iPhone. I hate the user interfaces on Spotify and MOG. It's a real pain to create a collection of albums and songs I like. I prefer iTunes, which lets me scroll through all my music.</p>
<p>With iTunes Match I'm listening to a bunch of songs I haven't heard in a long time, which has been fun. And makes it well worth the price of admission.</p>
<p><strong>The final verdict on iTunes Match:</strong> If you have a big collection of songs, it's worth $25 to have it on Apple's servers, allowing you to access them from anywhere.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Worried about missing the newest music? I would recommend using iTunes Match with the free Spotify desktop application. Spotify offers a free-with-ads streaming service for the desktop, for now. If you want to sample new albums, you could use that. If you really like an album, then you can buy it on iTunes and have it on your phone.</p>
<p>For a complete look at how iTunes Match works, and doesn't we've put together a shot by shot gallery of it.</p><h3>First, install the latest version of iTunes. I had to do a manual install, a general software update didn't work</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4ec29b49eab8eaef6f000054-400-300/first-install-the-latest-version-of-itunes-i-had-to-do-a-manual-install-a-general-software-update-didnt-work.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>Once the new iTunes is installed, sign up for iTunes Match.</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4ec29cf4eab8ea1a70000070-400-300/once-the-new-itunes-is-installed-sign-up-for-itunes-match.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>Oops! This is what happened when first tried the service: "iTunes Match is temporarily not accepting subscribers. Check back later."</h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/4ec29d5fecad04831b00001c-400-300/oops-this-is-what-happened-when-first-tried-the-service-itunes-match-is-temporarily-not-accepting-subscribers-check-back-later.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/itunes-match-review-2011-11#our-second-attempt-worked-much-better-but-after-12-hours-we-still-didnt-have-all-of-our-music-in-apples-system-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/itunes-match-release-date-2011-10Apple's iTunes Match Music Locker Suddenly Appeared In Our iPhone (AAPL)http://www.businessinsider.com/itunes-match-release-date-2011-10
Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:01:00 -0400Ellis Hamburger
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4e9f39e76bb3f7c02f000005/itunes-match-toggle.jpg" border="0" alt="itunes match toggle" /></p><p>Apple's cloud music solution called <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apples-itunes-match-beta-live-for-developers-2011-8">iTunes Match</a> is almost ready, new <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/ios">iOS</a> screenshots from <a href="http://www.macrumors.com/2011/10/19/apple-activates-itunes-match-setting-in-ios-5-suggesting-imminent-launch/">MacRumors</a> suggest.</p>
<p>Many users, including a few of us here at BI, are seeing a brand new "iTunes Match" toggle present in the Settings app's Music tab.</p>
<p>The toggle popped up out of nowhere just now, it seems.</p>
<p>Up until now, the option has only been available to developers.</p>
<p>If you toggle the option to "On," you get an error message prompting you to sign up for <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/itunes">iTunes</a> Match on your computer.</p>
<p>So what does it all mean?</p>
<p>iTunes Match, which lets you "store" all your music in the cloud [but not stream it] for $24.99/year is almost ready.</p>
<p><a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/apple">Apple</a> likely didn't want to launch <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apples-itunes-match-beta-live-for-developers-2011-8">iTunes Match</a> at the same time as iCloud/iOS 5, which had <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/updating-to-ios-5-2011-10">enough server troubles</a> of its down because of insanely high demand.</p>
<p><strong>Don't Miss: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-icloud-2011-10">Here's Everything You Need To Know About Using iCloud On Your iPhone And Mac &gt;</a></strong></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/itunes-match-release-date-2011-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/mog-smarttv-blu-ray-2011-9MOG And Samsung Offer Up Unlimited Music Through Your Home Theater Speakershttp://www.businessinsider.com/mog-smarttv-blu-ray-2011-9
Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:01:54 -0400Ellis Hamburger
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4e81d50decad048230000026/mog-tv-samsung.jpg" border="0" alt="mog tv samsung" /></p><p>MOG and <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/samsung">Samsung</a> just teamed up to offer a MOG music app on all SmartTV's and Blu-Ray players released since 2010.</p>
<p>This means that if you're bought a Samsung home theater component recently, odds are you can stream MOG music through your speakers.</p>
<p>You can find the app in the "What's New" section of the SmartTV app catalog.</p>
<p>For $4.99, you can grab a MOG unlimited subscription which grants you as much music you can handle on your computer, and now through your SmartTV and Blu-Ray player.</p>
<p>Plus, it all streams in crystal clear 320 kbps.</p>
<p><strong>Don't Miss: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mog-launches-free-streaming-music-service-2011-9">Here Comes The Biggest Threat To Spotify: Unlimited FREE Music From MOG &gt;</a></strong></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mog-smarttv-blu-ray-2011-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-best-music-services-2011-9GET READY FOR FACEBOOK MUSIC: These Are The Best Music Services On The Web That You Should Be Usinghttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-best-music-services-2011-9
Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:59:00 -0400Steve Kovach and Ellis Hamburger
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4e7b58c56bb3f7877200001b/spotify-mog-rdio-ceos-contestants-jeopardy.jpg" border="0" alt="spotify mog rdio ceos contestants jeopardy" /></p><p>It's nearly impossible to choose which online music streaming service is right for you, so we break down the competition into neat little categories based on your needs.</p>
<p>With <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/facebook" class="hidden_link">Facebook</a> expected to start integrating the big players into its big new content update today, it's more important than every to find the best way to listen to music.</p>
<p>We have offerings from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/spotify" class="hidden_link">Spotify</a>, Rdio, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/rhapsody-3" class="hidden_link">Rhapsody</a>, and MOG in the ring.</p><h3>Best Value: Spotify</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/4e2daf14ecad04e97b000014-400-300/best-value-spotify.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Let's be honest. You want free music. We want free music. Free music is the biggest draw right now.</p>
<p>The streaming industry has slow to adopt free on demand music options. So far your only real (legal) options are Spotify and MOG.</p>
<p>We think Spotify does free the best. Right now, you can get unlimited free streaming. After six months, you'll be limited to 15 hours of streaming. One caveat: You can only listen to a unique track five times per month.</p>
<p>MOG just launched its "Free Play" service last week. Instead of renewing the amount of free music you can get at the top of each month, you have a "gas tank" that depletes with each song you play. If you want more music, you have to earn it by sharing your MOG activity on social networks and remaining active on mog.com.</p>
<p>Also, Rdio plans to launch a free service in the coming weeks.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Best social: Rdio</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/4e7b43f469beddc11c000011-400-300/best-social-rdio.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Rdio is built as a social music interaction platform.</p>
<p>Sure, it plugs into Facebook and Twitter sharing like the other guys, but each Rdio user has their own full profile where you can follow them, see what they're listening to, check out their top artists, and browse their playlists.</p>
<p>Spotify has some similar features, but Rdio does it better, and looks great doing it.</p>
<p>Plus, tons of music labels, pundits, and critics have Rdio profiles you can follow to make sure you're up to date on what's new in the music scene.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Best music discovery: Rhapsody</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/4e7b2914ecad04242b000022-400-300/best-music-discovery-rhapsody.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Rhapsody launched a major upgrade last week with deep Facebook integration. That means it's super easy to discover new tunes based on what your friends like and are listening to. In the real world, we find a lot of our new music based on friend recommendations. Rhapsody makes that so much easier and does it better than the competition.</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-best-music-services-2011-9#best-web-interface-mog-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/kazaa-iphone-app-2011-9Remember Kazaa? They Just Built An iPhone App To Compete With Spotifyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/kazaa-iphone-app-2011-9
Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:08:00 -0400Ellis Hamburger
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/4e79eb3d6bb3f73412000033/kazaa-iphone-app.jpg" border="0" alt="kazaa iphone app" /></p><p>Kazaa, perhaps the most popular peer to peer music piracy service circa Y2K, just announced the availability of its brand new <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/iphone">iPhone</a> app.</p>
<p>Except there's no piracy even remotely involved here--Kazaa has long remained underground as a dormant brand, ready to spring back with some kind of related product.</p>
<p>And here it is: a Spotify/Rdio/MOG clone.</p>
<p>The app ties in to Kazaa's <a href="http://www.kazaa.com/#">$9.99 all-you-can-eat music subscription service</a>, which lets you stream and download as much music as you can handle from your computer or mobile device.</p>
<p>There's a seven day free trial included with the app to test out the service.</p>
<p><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kazaa/id431201795?mt=8#">Click here</a> to download the free app from the App Store.</p>
<p><strong>Don't Miss: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/missing-spotify-features-2011-7">10 Critical Features Spotify Needs If It Wants To Win Big &gt;</a></strong></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kazaa-iphone-app-2011-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/mog-free-play-2011-9This Is The Guy Who Wants To Destroy Spotify At Its Own Gamehttp://www.businessinsider.com/mog-free-play-2011-9
Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:16:00 -0400Steve Kovach
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/4e71092c69bedd2b7700001d/mog-david-hyman.jpg" border="0" alt="MOG david hyman" /></p><p>The streaming music space is exploding right now.</p>
<p>From Spotify's big U.S. launch to the hush-hush <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/facebook" class="hidden_link">Facebook</a> Music project, everyone is trying to figure out how to get the most users listening to the most stuff.</p>
<p>MOG, which is hardly a newcomer to the business, gets it. That's why it decided to launch "Free Play," a free version of its streaming music service that lets you earn more free tracks by remaining active on the service.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mog-free-play-2011-9#head-to-mogcomm-to-get-started-if-you-dont-have-an-account-you-can-create-one-for-free-right-now-1"><strong>Click here NOW to see how it works &gt;</strong></a></p>
<p>That means the more you browse MOG, Tweet what you're listening to, ask your Facebook friends to join, etc., the more free music you get.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It's a slightly different strategy than Spotify's free product. Right now, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/spotify" class="hidden_link">Spotify</a> gives you unlimited free music per month -- with ads. But that's just an introductory offer. After six months, free users will be limited to 10 hours per month. You'll also be limited to five plays per unique track.</p>
<p>So both Spotify and MOG have interesting approaches to "free." MOG rewards you with free music for being social. Spotify rewards you by giving you more listening time at the top of every month.</p>
<p>It's very possible for both to coexist.</p>
<p>Free Play was supposed to launch yesterday, but MOG ran into a few delays. It's here now, and we tried it. Hit the break to see it in action and hear what we think.</p><h3>Head to mog.com/m to get started. If you don't have an account you can create one for free right now</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/4e737d916bb3f7c34400001e-400-300/head-to-mogcomm-to-get-started-if-you-dont-have-an-account-you-can-create-one-for-free-right-now.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>Fill out the sign-up form...</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4e737d8eecad04ae62000023-400-300/fill-out-the-sign-up-form.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>...and MOG will send you a confirmation e-mail...</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/4e737d91eab8eaa82f000018-400-300/and-mog-will-send-you-a-confirmation-e-mail.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mog-free-play-2011-9#click-the-link-in-the-confirmation-link-from-your-e-mail-and-youre-all-set-now-lets-explore-mog-and-start-listening-to-all-that-free-music-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/mog-launches-free-streaming-music-service-2011-9Here Comes The Biggest Threat To Spotifyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/mog-launches-free-streaming-music-service-2011-9
Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:44:00 -0400Steve Kovach
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/4e7103a3eab8ea7b0b000055/mog-free.jpg" border="0" alt="MOG free" /></p><p>MOG, the music streaming service, is launching a new free streaming music service starting tomorrow, the company announced.</p>
<p>The new ad-supported service will compete with the free version of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/spotify" class="hidden_link">Spotify</a>, which offers a similar selection of on-demand streaming music for free.</p>
<p>However, MOG is taking a different approach. Instead of giving subscribers to the free service a limited number of hours per month, they'll get a "gas tank" with a certain number of free tracks they're allowed to play.</p>
<p>The gas tank doesn't fill automatically at the beginning of each month though. Instead, you have to perform actions like sharing playlists with friends on social networks and exploring MOG's library. The whole idea is to reward you with free music for sharing MOG virally.</p>
<p>While we like the "gas tank" concept, we wish that MOG would fill it up again at the beginning of each month in addition to rewarding you with more tracks for remaining active on the site. We think that puts MOG at a slight disadvantage to <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/spotify">Spotify</a>.</p>
<p>Right now, Spotify offers unlimited free streaming music. But in a few months you'll be limited to 20 hours per month.</p>
<p>We'll have a full review and walkthrough of the new MOG tomorrow. Right now we just have a sample screengrab of what the service looks like. Stay tuned!</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mog-launches-free-streaming-music-service-2011-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-music-scrobbling-2011-9What We Just Learned About Facebook's Secret Music Projecthttp://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-music-scrobbling-2011-9
Sun, 11 Sep 2011 09:38:57 -0400Steve Kovach
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/4e60eda6eab8eabb3d000049/katy-perry-at-facebook-400.jpg" border="0" alt="katy perry at facebook 400" /></p><p>We still know <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-music-2011-9">next to nothing about Facebook's new music service</a>, beyond that it will partner with <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/spotify">Spotify</a>, MOG, and Rdio to make it happen.</p>
<p><a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/facebook">Facebook</a> is expected to unveil the music service at its f8 conference on September 22.</p>
<p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/10/facebook-music-tracks/">TechCrunch</a> has dug up a few new details:</p>
<p>You'll be able to "scrobble" songs, meaning tracks you listen to will automatically be added to your profile.</p>
<p>There will be seamless integration between the different music services. If you see a playlist or track posted from one service, you'll be able to click and play it in your own. That means it won't matter if you're a Spotify, MOG, or Rdio user.</p>
<p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/10/facebook-music-tracks/"><strong>Read more details on TechCrunch &gt;</strong></a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-music-scrobbling-2011-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/bbm-music-2011-8RIM Must Be Crazy To Think Anyone Will Sign Up For Its BBM Music Service (RIMM)http://www.businessinsider.com/bbm-music-2011-8
Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:32:09 -0400Steve Kovach
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/4cff845649e2aef2560d0000-400-300/mike-lazaridis.jpg" border="0" alt="mike lazaridis" width="400" height="300" /></p><p>RIM officially announced BBM Music today, the social streaming music service we <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-bbm-music-details-2011-8">heard rumors about last week</a>.</p>
<p>It'll cost you $5 per month.</p>
<p>This new offering is laughable. Beyond laughable. It's to the point where we're convinced the only reason the major record labels agreed to let RIM have the service is because they knew it would be so unappealing to <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/blackberry">BlackBerry</a> owners that no one would use it.</p>
<p>Why?</p>
<p>Here are the rules -- we'll call them "rules" because they feel more like restrictions than features -- straight from <a href="http://press.rim.com/release.jsp?id=5073">RIM's press release</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li>Build a personal music profile with 50 of your favorite songs. You can refresh your profile by swapping out up to 25 songs each month.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>With each friend that is added to BBM Music, you grow your music collection since the songs from the profile of each BBM Music friend are available to you at any time.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Up to 50 tracks from your personal profile are shared with your BBM Music Community, and each member of your community shares up to 50 songs from their profile with you.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>You can create multiple playlists from music in your profile as well as all of your friends&rsquo; profiles.</li>
</ul>
<p>So, to summarize: For $5 per month, you only get 50 songs for that period. If you want more than that, you'll have to hope your friends have BBM and are willing to shell our $5 per month so you can listen to the 50 tracks they chose. If you get sick of your 50 songs, you can only swap out 25 of them.</p>
<p>Theoretically, if all your friends are on BBM, you can listen to a bunch of songs. But they're not <em>your </em>songs. They're not the songs you want to listen to. They're the songs your friends are listening to.</p>
<p>The reason people flock to cloud music services like <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/spotify">Spotify</a>, <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/rhapsody-3">Rhapsody</a> (which has its own <a href="http://www.rhapsody.com/mobile-apps?lsrc=rhapnew#">BlackBerry app</a>), and MOG is because they can listen to pretty much any song whenever they want. No limits. No rules.</p>
<p>And Spotify has the best deal of them all. For the same $5 per month you'd pay for BBM music, you can get all the on-demand music you want, ad-free. (Granted, you'll have to pay $10 for mobile access, but that still lets you listen to all 15 million tracks instead of forcing you to choose just 50.)</p>
<p>Again, RIM tries to play catch up with what the rest of the industry is doing. And again, they throw out a joke of a service.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bbm-music-2011-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/it-looks-google-and-amazon-were-right-they-dont-need-record-label-permission-2011-8It Looks Like Google And Amazon Were Right: They Don't Need Record Label Permission (GOOG, AMZN)http://www.businessinsider.com/it-looks-google-and-amazon-were-right-they-dont-need-record-label-permission-2011-8
Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:13:00 -0400Matt Rosoff
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4d40827dccd1d5cf360b0000/tongues.jpg" border="0" alt="Tongues" /></p><p>A legal ruling today paves the way for companies to launch music lockers -- online storage for users to upload their own music collection so they can get to it from any device.</p>
<p>Both <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-cloud-locker-labels-2011-4">Amazon </a>and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-music-is-completely-legal-but-labels-may-not-like-it-2011-5">Google</a> launched locker services earlier this year without getting permission from the record labels, and both companies claimed those services should be legal.</p>
<p>It looks like they were right.</p>
<p>A couple years ago, several record labels sued a similar service, MP3tunes.</p>
<p>As <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/08/record-labels-get-hollow-victory-in-mp3tunes-infringement-case.ars">Ars Technica explains</a>, the labels argued that MP3tunes should have known that some of the music in the locker was pirated. Therefore, MP3tunes couldn't claim immunity under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DM<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/ca" class="hidden_link">CA</a>) for those files.</p>
<p>Today, a judge rejected line of reasoning, saying that users -- not MP3tunes -- were responsible for uploading their own collections.</p>
<p>In other words, music lockers do have DM<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/ca" class="hidden_link">CA</a> immunity.</p>
<p>That means copyright holders will have to identify pirated content and ask for it to be taken down -- very difficult, except for leaked music that hasn't been officially released yet.</p>
<p>Equally important, the court ruled that playing back a song from a music locker does NOT constitute a "public performance," which would trigger certain kinds of rights payments. It also found that music locker providers don't actually have to store all the multiple copies of the same song that every single user uploaded -- they can use a single file ("deduplication") to represent all the uploads.</p>
<p>The ruling wasn't a total victory for MP3tunes, though. The company also had a music search engine called sideload.com that let users find files online and load them directly into their lockers. Record label EMI found some infringing content on this search engine and asked MP3tunes to remove it. MP3tunes did that, but didn't take the files out of users' lockers. MP3tunes founder Michael Robertson was also found to have downloaded some infringing content in this way as well.</p>
<p>The case could still wind its way through several more appeals, but right now it's looking pretty good for music locker services -- and the fans who use them.</p>
<p>A copy of the legal ruling <a href="http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/cases/show.php?db=special&amp;id=125">is available here</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/it-looks-google-and-amazon-were-right-they-dont-need-record-label-permission-2011-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/rim-music-service-2011-8Now RIM Is Trying To Launch Its Own Streaming Music Service -- REPORT (RIMM)http://www.businessinsider.com/rim-music-service-2011-8
Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:03:00 -0400Steve Kovach
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/4d39d90649e2ae9032100000/blackberry-torch.jpg" border="0" alt="blackberry Torch" /></p><p>RIM is in talks with major music labels to launch its own BBM-branded streaming music service, <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20094173-261/scoop-rim-in-talks-for-blackberry-music-service/?part=rss&amp;subj=news&amp;tag=2547-1_3-0-20">CNET reports</a>.</p>
<p>The company has supposedly signed with one of the four major labels, and is in talks with two more. The service will be tied to the <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/blackberry">BlackBerry</a> Messenger brand, one of the only RIM products that is still hot.</p>
<p>Beyond that, CNET's details on the music service are scarce.</p>
<p><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20094173-261/scoop-rim-in-talks-for-blackberry-music-service/?part=rss&amp;subj=news&amp;tag=2547-1_3-0-20"><strong>Click here to read the full report &gt;</strong></a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rim-music-service-2011-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/g-2011-8Google Launches An Online Music Magazine With Free Tunes (GOOG)http://www.businessinsider.com/g-2011-8
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:04:00 -0400Matt Rosoff
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/4e4c56a9eab8eac77500004e/google-magnifier.jpg" border="0" alt="Google Magnifier" /></p><p><a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/google">Google</a> is looking more and more like a traditional media company.</p>
<p>Last month <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-launches-a-magazine-2011-7">it launched a print magazine, Think Quarterly</a>, on the advertising business, and before that it <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-hires-salon-ceo-to-head-up-news-business-2011-6">hired the head of Salon</a> to start what could be a news business.</p>
<p>Now it's launched a music Web site.</p>
<p><a href="http://magnifier.blogspot.com/">Google Magnifier</a> is mainly about helping users find great free songs they can add to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-music-is-completely-legal-but-labels-may-not-like-it-2011-5">Google Music Beta</a>, the company's music service.</p>
<p>But those songs are curated by real live editors -- not selected by machine algorithms like are at work with Search and most other Google products -- and accompanied by editorial content.</p>
<p>There will also be music <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/">videos</a> and interviews with musicians.</p>
<p>The site compares itself to the cool cousin who lives in England and always turns you on to new music before your friends get it.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/g-2011-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/digster-2011-7Universal Music Will Launch A Site Today Where You Can Get A Bunch Of Free Spotify Playlistshttp://www.businessinsider.com/digster-2011-7
Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:38:59 -0400Steve Kovach
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4e304d2769beddb15800000f/digster.jpg" border="0" alt="digster" /></p><p>Universal Music Group will launch a <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/spotify">Spotify</a> playlist service today called "Digster," <a href="http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/digital-and-mobile/universal-music-group-launching-spotify-1005293772.story">Billboard reports</a>.</p>
<p>Digster will contain Playlists that all Spotify users -- not just paid members -- can subscribe to. The playlists will be compiled and aggregated by Universal employees and even some music artists.</p>
<p>One of Spotify's most unique features is the ability to share your favorite playlists with the public over <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/facebook">Facebook</a>, <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/twitter">Twitter</a>, or posting the link in an e-mail or to your blog.</p>
<p>There are even some great playlist aggregators like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/share-my-playlists-2011-7">Share My Playlists</a> where users can submit and share Spotify tracks.</p>
<p>Digster is already available in a few European countries. We'll have more details once Digster makes its U.S. debut.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/digster-2011-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p>